Johannes Melchior

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Johannes Melchior (born August 6, 1646 in Solingen , † October 15, 1689 in Herborn ) (also: Johannes Melchioris ) was a theologian , university professor and the first author of a Reformed children's Bible .

Johannes Melchior.

Life

Youth and education

Johannes Melchior was born as the son of a lay judge and mayor of Solingen, also named Johann Melchior, and his wife, Margarethe, née Nees, also from Solingen. He first went to school in his native Solingen. Later he attended the pedagogy in Heidelberg and then the university there . Other universities followed: the universities of Groningen and Leiden , where he studied Reformed theology. His teachers included Johannes Coccejus and Samuel Maresius . At the age of 21 he passed the preacher's exam before the synod (church authority) of the Duchy of Berg with distinction.

Pastor

He was assigned the pastor's post in Frechen . However, this did not prevent him from continuing to work scientifically. Here he wrote the first of his works that appeared in print: Christian Faith ... and Religio ejusque Natura et Principium ... , a response to the Tractatus theologico-politicus by Baruch de Spinoza .

In 1672 he became pastor in Kaldenkirchen . Here, too, he continued his literary activity, also in Düsseldorf , where he went in 1677. The Roman Catholic Count Palatine Philipp Wilhelm gave the Jesuits an opportunity to act against which he turned. He particularly counted on having won a Jesuit for conversion to the Reformed denomination .

University professor

Through his commitment to the reformed cause on a scientific level, he qualified as a university lecturer and was to be appointed professor of theology at the High School in Herborn in 1682 . To do this, however, he first had to acquire a doctorate . He enrolled again, this time at the University of Duisburg . After taking the relevant exam in the summer of 1682, he accepted the call to Herborn for the second chair in theology. On the other hand, he turned down a call to the University of Marburg shortly afterwards .

His theology is based on Chiliasm , Cartesianism, and personal experience of faith, and he relied on a conscience purified by the Holy Spirit of which the Gospel provides reliable evidence. His dogmatic textbook Shoresh davar sive fundamenta… , first published by Andreae in 1685, has been reprinted many times, including in 1727 by Friedrich Adolf Lampe . It was in use at Reformed universities in Germany and the Netherlands until the beginning of the 19th century .

Another focus of his work was didactic and pedagogical . After his experience as a pastor in Düsseldorf, he worked to ensure that the Bible was also taught in a child-friendly form. He is thus also in a tradition of the High School Herborn, which has already produced other initiatives in this direction. The most important representative was Johann Amos Comenius , who studied at the High School in Herborn from 1611 to 1613. The “Children's Bible” by Johannes Melchior was widely used. It appeared in Herborn in three editions: in 1688, 1705 and 1716 and in 1715 by Lorentz in Berlin and in Amsterdam in 1730 and 1750 in Dutch .

In 1684/85 Melchior was prorector of the university - in the hundredth year of its existence. On this occasion he gave the opening speech for the celebrations. In 1686, after the death of Matthias Nethenus , Melchior became inspector and consistorial councilor in the county of Nassau-Dillenburg .

family

Melchior was married twice: first to Mechtild Reuysch, daughter of Eberhard Reuysch, from Utrecht . She died while her husband was pastor in Düsseldorf. In his second marriage he married Elisabeth Walburga Hildesheim, widow of the Kurbrandenburgisch - Prussian judiciary and court judge Wilhelm Bachmann from Kleve . With her he had three daughters and one son. Known by name are: Katharina Mechthild (* July 29, 1683), Albert Wilhelm (* May 28, 1685) and Magdalena Christina (* March 27, 1687).

death

Johannes Melchior died of the red dysentery as early as 1689 . A funeral speech for his death by Johann Heinrich Florinus has been preserved. His wife and four children survived him.

A collective edition of Melchior's sermons and German writings appeared in 1695. Gottfried Jüngst published his Latin works in 1693 under the title Opera omnia theologica, exegetica, didactica, polemica .

Catalog raisonné

Title page of Opera Omnia Theologica (...)
  • Auspicia secularia Herbornensia. Sive rectoratus magnificentissimus celsissimi principis ac domini D. Wilhelmi. Succenturiante designati Pro-Rectoris oratione De Lege Libertatis Inauguratus pridie Cal. Augusti ipso seculari Academiae anno MDCLXXXIV Nec non Panegyricus de ∆ιΟΡΘΩΣΕι ultimi Temporis / Academicae scholae historiam complexus Dicturs ejusdem anni, mensis IIXbris the 23rd Festivitati seculari sacro a Joh. Melchioris SS.Th.D.Prof. & Past. / Academiae ht Pro = Rectore, nec non Sereniss. Nassoviae Principibus a sacris consiliis . Herborn 1685.
  • Considerations of the Marital Status or of the Approach to Means and Appropriate Manners of Reproduction of the Human Sex . Johann Philipp Andreae. Herborn and Franckfurt 1695.
  • Christian youth exercise presented In explanation of Pauli's letter to the Ephesians. Next to the first letter teacher The reasons of true religion . Johann Nicolaus Andreae. Herborn undated
  • Christian reason of belief ie where a Christian gets the assurance in his conscience that it is healed. Scripture is a divine revelation . Frankfurt 1671.
  • De Investigatione Praedestinationis Dissertatio: Adiecta est Demonstratio, Quod Transsubstantiatio Non Sit Credibilis Nisi per Enthusiasmum . Andreae, Herborn 1687.
  • De obligatione naturali inter deum et hominem . [Dissertation]. Duisburg 1682. Printed in the collective work Opera Omnia Theologica […].
  • De sanguine Christi eucharistico commentatio, complectens dissertationes tres theologico-historicas, quibus Jac. Benig Bossueti tractatus de commuione sub utraque specie, ita excutitur, ut succinte ejus controversiæ universa ratio expendatur, & monumentum ponderetur. Herborn, 1684.
  • Delectus religionis . Between 1671 and 1676. Reissued as a Choice of Religion . Johann Philipp Andreae. Herborn and Franckfurt 1695.
  • Dialogi apocalyptici, de fato duorum testium, ad Apocal. XI. 3-14, septem phialis seu plagis ultimis, ad Apocal. XV. & XVI., Millennario ligati draconis, ad Apocal. XX. Herborn (Andrea) 1690.
  • Dialogorum Apocalypticorum Specimen Alterum De Fato Duorum Testium: Ad Apocal. Xi. 3 --- 14 . Herborn. 1689.
  • Disquisitio Theologica De Fide Rationali Puerorum In Christo . Herborn. 1688.
  • Diss. Acad. de oeconomia Dei circa gentes et Iudaeos, ex parabola Luc. XV. verse. 11-32 . Andreae. Herborn 1689.
  • Diss. De tempore coeptarum et modo usurpatarum in ecclesia versionum p. scripturae ; together with Jacob Alting , Groningen 1671.
  • Diss. Theol. de necessitate et sufficientia credendorum ad salutem et communionem ecclesiasticam . Andreae. Herborn 1690.
  • Düsseldorffischer worship of one hundred and fifty years . Johann Philipp Andreae. Herborn and Franckfurt 1695.
  • First letters of a Christian children's school in front of the budding youth in the Fürstenthum Nassaw-Dillenburg. Now printed for the second time. Psal. 34.13 / come here children / listen to me / I will teach you the fear of the Lord . Johann Nicolaus Andreae. Herborn 1690.
  • Wrongly invented miracles of the papists . Johann Philipp Andreae. Herborn and Franckfurt 1695.
  • Ingenious sermons and scripts […]. Johann Philipp Andreae. Herborn and Franckfurt 1695.
  • Keur van Religie ( Lower Franconian ). Between 1671 and 1676
  • Children's Bible or a brief extract of the most necessary and useful story, sayings and secrets from all the books of the h. Schrifft called the Old Testament: for the conveyance of the divine knowledge… . Herborn 1688.
    • Translation into Dutch : Kinder-bybel, of Kort begrip van de nodigste en sluttigste divorced spreuken, en hidden theden, uit alle de boeken of the Holy Scriptures; by Johannes Melchior: uit het Hoogduitsch vertaalt by Abraham van Poot . Amsterdam 1750.
  • Kurtze narration of the status of the divine service in Düsseldorf and the surrounding countries 150 years ago . Approx. 1680.
  • Brief and thorough responsibility, partly careless judgment against a number of simple-minded and incomprehensible people, partly also against several cheeky splinter judges who are badly affected by splinter judges: So here and there about the two troubled and dangerous times, For a long time they want to be scattered outside their congregations in the Palatinate, evacuated Reformed pastors, given by a lover of the honorable preaching office . Andreae. Herborn 1689.
  • Kurtze presentation of God's housekeeping over Jews and Heyden. According to Luc's instructions. 15, V 11-32 . Johann Nicolaus Andreae. Herborn 1705.
  • Doctrine of truth and godliness presented in doctrine, penance, admonition, conscience, consolation, prayer day preparation, night supper and feast day sermons. As held in a crowded meeting at Herborn and provided with two registers of the texts and the most important didactic pieces . Johann Nicolaus Andreae. Herborn and Franckfurt 1695.
  • Onderwysende godgeleerdheid: vervattende de foundations van de hoogste waarheeden, by wyse van korte stellingen with ontdekkinge van de kracht van de hedendaagsche dwalingen . Amsterdam 1690.
  • Opera Omnia Theologica, Exegetica, Didactica, Polemica, Duobus Tomis Absoluta, quibus Veteris ac Novi Testamenti libri conferuntur, explicantur, illustrantur: Veritas Religionis Christianae […] Argumentis validissimis asseritur, defenditur: Triplici Indice Locupletata, […]. Johann Nicolai Andreae. Herborn 1693.
  • Oratio inauguralis de veritate ad conscientiam demonstratione . 1682.
  • Principium credendi enthusiasticum pontificiorum et rationale orthodoxorum, dissertationibus aliquot acad. explicatum . Herborn 1688.
  • Religio Ejusque Natura Et Principium: Sive Joh. Melchioris VDM Ad Amicum Epistola, qua ad examen revocatur Anonymi Tractatus Theologico Politicus continens Dissertationes aliquot ostenditur… sed eandem nisi cum pace reip. ipsaque pietate tolli non posse & , Clerck, 1672.
  • Šōreš dābār sive fundamenta theologiae didascalicae: summarum veritatum aphoristico nexu denudato simul errorum hodiernorum nervo in usus auditorii sui concinnata . Andreae. Herborn 1685.
  • Of the true reason for belief . Johann Philipp Andreae. Herborn / Frankfurt 1695.

Worth knowing

  • FW Cuno wrongly assigned the scripture Bible-Core to Johannes Melchior. However, it was written in 1704 by Johann Caspar Müller, Zurich, who, however, also based it on texts from Melchior's children's Bible. This writing testifies to the wide distribution and effectiveness of Melchior's children's Bible in the reformed part of Europe.

literature

  • Friedrich Wilhelm Cuno:  Melchioris Johannes . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1885, p. 291 f.
  • Heinrich Florinus (Professor zu Herborn): The Latin commemorative speech on Melchioris .
  • Hugo Grün: The theological faculty of the high school Herborn 1584-1817 . In: Yearbook of the Hessian Church History Association 19 (1968), pp. 57–145.
  • Peter Hoß: funeral sermon to Melchior . Herborn 1689.
  • Otto Renkhoff: Nassau biography: short biographies from 13 centuries: Melchio (is), Johannes (= publications of the Historical Commission for Nassau 39). 2nd edition Wiesbaden 1992, p. 508.
  • Jens Trocha: The Children's Bible of Johannes Melchior. (pdf, 350 kB) Herborn 1991, without page counting; Also in: Gottfried Adam among others: The contents of children's bibles. Criteria of their selection. Göttingen 2008. ISBN 978-3-89971-489-0 , pp. 45-83.

Remarks

  1. ↑ VIAF gives 12 name variants.
  2. ↑ The illustration comes from the copy of Opera omnia theologica ... in the library of the Herborn Theological Seminary of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau with the signature: AB 33.13.
  3. ↑ Also: "Šōreš dābār".
  4. ↑ Albert Wilhelm later became a professor of theology himself at the High State School in Hanau and in Franeker . He is the father of theology professor Johann Albert Melchior, who taught at the University of Duisburg.
  5. ↑ Another edition in Dutch appeared as early as 1730 (Trocha, p. 14).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Renkhoff.
  2. ↑ Grün, p. 100; Renkhoff.
  3. ↑ Grün, p. 100; Cuno.
  4. ^ Trocha, p. [1].
  5. ↑ See: Section “Catalog of Works”.
  6. ^ Trocha, p. 1.
  7. ↑ Grün, p. 100.
  8. ↑ Grün, p. 101.
  9. ↑ De obligatione naturali , see section “Catalog of works”.
  10. ↑ Inaugural address: Oratio inauguralis de veritate ad conscientiam demonstratione ; Matthias Nethenus took the first chair (Grün, p. 98ff).
  11. ↑ Grün, p. 101.
  12. ↑ Grün, p. 101.
  13. ↑ See: Section “Catalog of Works”.
  14. ↑ Cuno.
  15. ↑ See in particular Trocha, p. 5 ff.
  16. ^ Trocha, p. 14.
  17. ^ Trocha, p. 3.
  18. ↑ Grün, p. 101; Trocha, p. 3: Panegyricus saecularis […].
  19. ↑ Renkhoff; on the title page of the children's Bible he calls himself “Princely Nassau Church Overseer”, see here .
  20. ↑ Grün, p. 101; Renkhoff.
  21. ↑ Grün, p. 101.
  22. ^ Trocha, p. 1.
  23. ^ Trocha, p. 4.
  24. ↑ De Vita Et Obitu Johannis Melchioris, Celeberrimi Scholæ Herbornensis Theologi
  25. ↑ Grün, p. 101.
  26. ^ According to VIAF; Post Reformation Digital Library ; Trocha, p. 27 f.
  27. ↑ Trocha, p. 27 with reference to a copy in the Zurich Central Library .
  28. ↑ Proof in Trocha, p. 2 u. Note 13. Bibliographically no longer verifiable.
  29. ↑ Proof: Trocha, p. 27.
  30. ↑ Based on Trocha, p. 2 and Note 12. Bibliographically no longer verifiable.
  31. ↑ Bible core or excerpt from the most noble stories, prophecies, images, teachings and secrets from all books of the Holy Scriptures. Including official introductions to the A. and N. test. the books, too, have the necessary and useful knowledge of the content, section, and other things. Biblical writings, excerpts and handbooks, except for various learned men, but especially for Mr. D. Johan Melchior's excellent children's Bible .
  32. ↑ Trocha, p. [15], note 179.
personal data
SURNAME Melchior, Johannes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Melchioris, Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Theologian and educator
DATE OF BIRTH August 6, 1646
PLACE OF BIRTH Solingen
DATE OF DEATH October 15, 1689
Place of death Herborn